Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Namibia, Lilian Onoh, has sought permanent residence in the United States due to a SaharaReporters article that accused her of corruption, according to the news outlet.
Onoh’s request for asylum is based on the need to remain in the U.S. permanently, citing the dangers posed by the report.
Onoh presented a 102-page affidavit to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on November 1, 2024. In the affidavit, she explained that the article, titled “Nigerian Civil Service Commission Sacks Former High Commissioner to Namibia, Lilian Onoh, Over N50million Misappropriation, Recommends Trial by ICPC,” has significantly impacted her life, preventing her from participating in her church choir and damaging her reputation.
The civil action (case no. 3:23-cv-02838-B) was filed against Sahara Reporters Media Group, Inc., Sahara Reporters, Inc., and Omoyele Sowore. Onoh’s affidavit responded to the defendants’ motion to dismiss her first amended complaint, which seeks damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress due to the publication.
Onoh identified herself as a Nigerian citizen who previously served as the Ambassador to Namibia, the Head of Mission in Jamaica, and a diplomat at the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations, New York. She stated that she originally intended to retire in Nigeria but has revised her plans due to the dangers posed by the article.
Onoh has filed the necessary paperwork with the U.S. government for asylum for diplomats in danger and has been issued an Employment Authorization document, allowing her to remain in the U.S. until 2028. She has recently completed the final stage of submitting medical records to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and is awaiting the issuance of her Green Card.
The defendants’ motion contends that the court should dismiss Onoh’s claims against Sowore due to a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that Onoh’s lack of specific pleadings regarding her citizenship destroys the complete diversity required by 28 U.S.C. § 1332. However, Onoh insists that she seeks permanent residence in the U.S. because of the defendants’ defamatory publication.
Onoh has resided permanently in Texas since 2021 and has had a home there since 2005. She claims that the article has prevented her from working in the diplomatic field, where she dedicated 30 years of her life. Onoh alleges that she lost over 90% of her friends, colleagues, and acquaintances due to the report, and she has been forced to hide her identity and use a pseudonym to avoid the article’s impact.
Onoh’s social life has been severely affected, causing her to avoid Nigerian gatherings and suffer extreme anxiety even when providing her driver’s license for a store rewards card. She states that since the publication of the article, she has been under constant physical and emotional distress, experiencing fear for her safety and difficulty sleeping.
In the affidavit, Onoh also claimed that during the 2021 United Nations General Assembly, then Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama and Permanent Secretary Gabriel Aduda delivered cash to SaharaReporters’ New York office through Flavour Eze, Onyeama’s Personal Assistant. However, SaharaReporters’ office in New York had closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sowore was under arrest and restricted to Abuja during that time.
Contrary to Onoh’s claims, Sowore resigned from SaharaReporters in 2019 and has not been in charge of the company since then. Furthermore, Onoh lied about never being indicted for financial misconduct. SaharaReporters reported on September 22, 2021, that a seven-member committee indicted Onoh for gross financial misappropriation and fraud.
The Federal Civil Service Commission suspended Onoh from duty in 2021, and her sacking was ratified after a committee meeting. The committee directed that she be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for investigation. Onoh, who is related to former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria and current Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, was accused of illegal diversion of funds and asked to refund various sums of money.
The letters detailing her dismissal stated that the Federal Civil Service Commission found Onoh guilty of breach of financial regulations, absence from duty without leave, and refusal to carry out lawful instructions. Her dismissal took effect from February 1, 2021, and she was handed over to the ICPC for further investigation.
